Frozen Paths
by wolfewiker
Summary: A warden following her visions finds herself stuck on a frozen rock with a crusader as her only companion. Together, the two must learn how to overcome the terrain, weather, and the animosity between them in order to survive.
1. Kelida

**Author's Note:** This was written as fan fiction for the Mechwarrior:4 Vengeance / Black Knight league known as NBT-4. Any BattleTech indiscrepencies are due to the fact that I based this off of the game and league play, NOT the actual series of novels or sourcebooks! If you're interested, come check out the league at www.netbattletech.com. Kelida is always looking to take new bondsmen! ;) Also, most of the italics are the character's thoughts, although some of them are the names of ships or mechs or the like.  
  
**Dedication:** This could only be for BooBoo. He's the one who gave me the original idea for the storyline, and although he was supposed to write his parts, I suppose it's turning out alright we me portraying Karri. Thanks to the Jade Claymores and the Jade Falcons in general, especially my friends in the scat pack -- FS and BJ. I've also got to thank Archon Traxxas Steiner and General Xavier from the LCAF, as well as my own clan -- here's to the Nova Cats, may our visions guide us.  
  


  
- - - - - - - -  
  
**Part One ~ Kelida **  
  


The images poured over her haphazardly, fragmented together in no particular order. She swam beneath them, attempting, somehow, to struggle to the surface before they drove her mad. Lush green forests: broken, shattered and burned by the battle. Sprawling cities: flattened and crumbled by invading battlemechs. Her star: utterly destroyed, her sibkin vaporized as the mighty fusion engines beneath them exploded. Then, while she screamed with agony and sheer terror, the visions came to her - white, peaceful, and much cooler than the jellied fire that coated her _Shadow Cat_.   
  
Barely lucid, she remembered childhood summers spent skiing on some of the more gentle slopes native to the world, late afternoons fading into dusk as her father ran, pulling her sled. In the midst of her nightmares, these memories invoked peace and preserved her sanity. Unconsciously she cried out the name of the place that she longed for -- Kikuyu.   
  
Located on the outskirts of the Lyran Alliance and bordered by Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf in Exile planets, Kikuyu's claim to fame was its year-round winter atmosphere. Its population was sparse, although several families were known to keep winter or summer homes meant for vacationing, and there were a few cities scattered here and there. Kikuyu's terrain was, in the long run, mostly wild and uninhabited.   
  
It was those visions of the breathtaking wild that saved her and forced her out of horrible nightmares, a full week after the battle that bathed her mech in flames took place. Choking in a pained breath, Loremaster Kelida of Clan Nova Cat flicked her eyes open once, screwed them shut against the bright lights overhead, and timidly opened them once again.   
  
"You have awoken, I see. How are you feeling? Better than after you ejected out of your mech, quiaff?" the worried face of one of the clan's medical staff peered down at her anxiously.   
  
Croaking, she had to swallow a few times before she could find her voice. "Aff. I am somewhat sore, and very, very tired, but I am not dead." With a grimace, Kelida slowly eased up on her right elbow, glancing around the nearly deserted infirmary. "What happened after the battle? Where is everyone?" As she spoke, she became aware of a dull ache in her left arm, and several sharper pains down that entire side, but she managed to ignore the pain as she listened.   
  
"Your star was destroyed before reinforcements could arrive. You apparently ejected out of the _Shadow Cat _you were piloting and immediately lost consciousness. As you can tell," and the doctor's hands were gentle as he lifted her gauze-covered left hand, "you received some minor burning along your left arm, over your shoulders, and down your left leg. Your left elbow was fractured, your right thigh needed thirty stitches to close up, and you had various other cuts, scrapes, and bruises that are mostly healed now."   
  
Her eyes wide, Kelida nodded slowly, the information sinking in. _My four sibkin, gone, but the day was won. I am alive and ready to fight to regain whatever honor I might have lost by not being able to save them... _  
  
"You are also no longer on the _True Vision_."   
  
"What?" she gasped, almost struck speechless by those words. The _True Vision_, Khan Diemos Bavros's jumpship, had been her home for the past two years. The only times she had ever left the ship was to drop in another battle or return to the Nova Cat's home world, Irece. There could only be one reason why she had been taken to another jumpship...   
  
"I have been sent away in disgrace!"   
  
"Not hardly. At first, while you were unconscious, you had to be restrained because you kicked and fought and shook so badly we were afraid you would damage yourself more. Then it was as if something came over you, and instead of fighting so strongly you simply twitched and shook, screaming and moaning one word"   
  
"Kikuyu."   
  
"Aff, Loremaster. The Khan and saKhan did not understand what visions you were given, but they agreed you must travel to that world at once, to unlock the secrets behind whatever it is you saw. They have instructed that once you reach Kikuyu, you must try to remember if you saw anything noteworthy. It is well known throughout the clan that you have always been highly receptive to the visions, and the fact that you were so plagued by these, yet were unable to convey what they signified in your brief moments of consciousness, worried the command staff to no extent."  
  
"I woke up?"  
  
"Aff, for brief periods of time. It might be better that you do not remember them. I can easily believe that the pain was overwhelming."  
  
"I saw... I do not remember what I dreamed. I was most likely simply remembering childhood years spent on the planet."   
  
"You managed to tell us that once, in one of your clearer states of consciousness. However, memories or no, you have your orders. It will take us one week to reach Lyran space, where you will board a dropship that will take you to the planet. My orders are to return to the _True Vision_ -- it will take me two weeks to do so. Once I have returned, the Khan will set the timer for three months. When that time is up, you will be collected and returned. He and the saKhan both hope that within that time, you will fully heal and will discover what your visions meant."   
  
"Alone...? Kikuyu is not a hospitable planet. It would be better for me to return to the rest of the clan, to be there to fight when I am needed. I am being sent away!"  
  
"You will not be fighting for some time, Loremaster, not until you fully heal. Accommodations have been secured within the main city for your stay. The Lyrans have been most helpful -- it is only because of the friendship and alliance between us that they allow us to do this."   
  
"Kikuyu..."   
  
"Return to your sleep." Without further ado, he applied a small blue patch to the inside of Kelida's right elbow. "You have much healing to do in the week before I leave you on that block of ice they call a world, and you need your rest."   
  
Still struggling to protest her temporary exile, Kelida fought briefly as the med tech pushed her back down onto the bed. Kikuyu would not be the same without her mother and father, she hadn't been there since she was made a bondswoman of Clan Nova Cat, and...   
  
As the sedatives kicked in, she inevitably gave into sleep. 


	2. Karyudo

  
  
**Part Two ~ Karyudo**  
  


Undetected on the border of Lyran space, a small dropship detached from a jumpship painted with the brilliant green crest of Clan Jade Falcon. Tiny compared to most of the dropships CJF sent into LCAF space, the craft was barely large enough to hold a star of light and medium mechs. Along with the normal Jade Falcon crest, the dropship itself was also painted with an emerald green number 3 pierced through by a sword. The Jade Claymores were coming to visit.  
  
Star Commander Salamander held the highest authority on his star's dropship. Underneath him were four other warriors - Pengo, Black Jackal, Firestorm, and Karyudo. Oftentimes unruly and asinine, Sal's star had a reputation for getting into trouble, which was undoubtedly fueled by their curiosity and lust for the unusual.   
  
Mechwarrior Karyudo suspected that their recon on Kikuyu was little more than punishment detail for his sibkin and himself. It was well known that the Lyran planet had hostile weather and was barely populated - what had Khan Anjin Roshak and saKhan Logan "Bloodlust" Pryde expected when they sent the wayward star out scouting? Yes, it was definitely a ploy to get the Jade Claymores out of the way while the main bulk of CJF hit more prominent Lyran worlds.  
  
But really, did his star not deserve said punishment detail? Point Commander Pengo was prone to sugar highs, wherein he'd run about the ship blabbering about "tp for his bunghole." Black Jackal was well known as a smartass and had a dry sense of humor that did little but egg on his sibkin. And then there was Firestorm (who often boasted that his vat had been dumped down the drain so he grew out of the sink), the flat-out psychotic one of the bunch. Karri himself, a freebirth brought into the sibko after growing up on the outskirts of the Draconis Combine, was prone to bouts of depression that he attempted to hide with an odd sense of humor and by saying things that rarely made sense.  
  
Frowning slightly, Karri let himself out of the quarters he shared with Firestorm, ducking an ill-aimed swing from his half-asleep sibkin as he stepped out the door. Fire could sleep anywhere, anytime, and he didn't mind what his roommate perceived as a disgrace. Karri, on the other hand, had too much on his mind to even attempt to sleep as usual.   
  
He wasn't too surprised when his pacing led him to the mechbay. Oftentimes, when he was too wound up before a battle, he'd find himself standing before the mech he was to pilot. Somehow, it always managed to calm him down. It was quieter in the mechbay, and he could remain there for however long as he chose, lost in his thoughts.  
  
Five mechs stood in a semi-circle, towering high above the restless mechwarrior. Firestorm, Black Jackal, and Pengo were to pilot _Shadow Cats_, while he and Salamander had _Cougars_ outfitted for the mission. That suited Karri just fine he enjoyed nothing more than whipping his "cougie" up to full speed and circling around bigger mech's legs.   
  
And after all, the memories only went away when he was piloting. It was a kill-or-be-killed type situation out on the field, and everything else took back seat to his instincts during battles. Perched in the cockpit while fire echoed all around him, Karri at last felt peace. Each time he climbed out of the cockpit, however, wayward thoughts came rushing back to haunt him full-time. Tonight was no exception.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he stepped over to the white-painted _Cougar_ that bore the clan's insignia and his name in bright green paint. Settling down against one of the mech's legs, Karri leaned back and closed his eyes. Three days, and the Jade Claymores would land on Kikuyu. Three days, and then this misbegotten adventure would be over with so they could return to fighting the Lyrans full-time. Three days  
  
The silence combined with lack of sleep lulled him into an uneasy rest. Thus it was that the "nancy boy" would be found the next day, and every remaining day until the drop - three days. 


	3. Kelida

  
  
**Part Three ~ Kelida**  
  


The transfer from jumpship to dropship went easily, and soon enough Kelida found herself slinging a small bag over her shoulder and stepping out onto the planet proper. She'd been given suitable cold-weather gear to make the landing in subzero temperatures, but nevertheless she felt the sharp sting of icy wind as she made her way off the ship, emerging into the dark, ice-glazed night.  
  
A hovercar was waiting to take the passengers quickly to their destinations, and Kelida scrambled into it with an ease that would not have been possible a week ago. The med tech had spent the long week before them working tirelessly on her wounds, and she was still so doped-up on painkillers that she would have most likely not even felt a gunshot wound to the gut.   
  
The bag she carried even contained mostly medication - a first aid kit overflowing with various patches, detailed instructions on how to remove the stitches when she felt them tearing the healing skin, and a few useful tools. The remaining space in the bag was filled with some warm clothing and a holovid or two of her family (so her sibkin teased her about being a sentimental freebirth - Kelida responded to their taunts in kind, asking whether or not too much of one chemical had been dumped into their vat). Food was to be provided at her temporary home.  


The hovercar flew smoothly down the deserted streets, depositing passengers at pre-assigned locations. By remaining silent on the dropship and keeping a low profile, Kelida had overheard that most of them were travelers looking forward to skiing on Kikuyu's slopes. Her own traveling attire was nondescript, so no one could tell at first glance that she was both a mechwarrior and clanner - they would have needed to see under her parka to find the coolant vest she'd smuggled with her when the med tech wasn't looking, or even the heavy, slug-throwing firearm she'd cinched tightly under her belt.  
  
Vacations, even work vacations, _especially _work vacations, be damned. She wasn't about to leave her last lines of defense on the jumpship. Then again, Kelida was known to be somewhat more paranoid than most.  
  
She couldn't help but snicker somewhat as the hovercar reached her destination. Her quarters were located in the building that housed the town's (and likely the entire planet's, considering its few civilized areas) garrison force of militia soldiers, although she was in a different wing entirely. Thank god for small graces.  
  
The buildings on Kikuyu were mostly kept short and sprawling - closer to the ground for less wind, and long to make up for the lack of several floors. Most of them had very few windows, and many of them were connected by underground tunnels for the days when too much snow buried exits and entrances. It was, in the long run, a rather cozy place - a world she had loved to spend her time on as a child with her parents.  
  
The world had become her prison.  
  
Muttering under her breath, Kelida slung her bag over her shoulder and jumped off the hovercar, following a few other men who were likewise heading into the same building. Entering the building, she observed quietly as they strolled over to a set of doors blocking the north wing and punched in a clearance code. Moving to the south wing doors, she dredged up the code the med tech had made her memorize and was duly granted her own access.   
  
Her private quarters were located halfway down the long hall, mixed in with rooms given to upper class civilians visiting Kikuyu on whatever Lyran business dragged them so far from home. She would be written off as one of those business women (perhaps a lady who had wisely invested in the crayon stock years ago), and thus would be left alone while she attempted to gather her thoughts and remember the visions that had assailed her after the battle.  
  
Punching another code into the keypad by her door, Kelida stepped into her room once the doors slid open. Small, sparse, and nicely warm, it would be perfect for collecting her thoughts and meditating, but not much good for anything else. With a sigh, she dropped her bag on the floor and stepped out of her parka.   
  
Without bothering to shrug off her coolant vest or set aside her firearm, Kel flopped back on the bed, kicking her boots off in one fluid motion.  
  
She hoped she could figure out what it was that compelled her to return to this barren planet. Not yet in the condition to ski or otherwise play on the snowy slopes, she could only pray that she'd either fully heal quickly or that the time would fly. It would be a long three months. 


	4. Karyudo

  
  
**Part Four ~ Karyudo**  
  


"What do you expect to find on Kikuyu, Blackal?" Firestorm questioned his sibkin as the three unranked members of the Jade Claymores sat down to eat dinner together.   
  
Startled, Black Jackal looked up from his tray - Fire wasn't known for such deep questions. "Ice, snow, and more ice?"  
  
"No, no I know the REAL reason we are being sent dirtside. SaKhan Lusty Pryde cannot fool me!"  
  
"Oh? And what reason might that be?" Karri questioned as he attempted to twirl a sorry excuse for spaghetti around his fork, somewhat amused by Fire's antics.  
  
"It is the women!"  
  
"Women?" BJ burst into laughter, almost snarfing his drink. Managing to get it all down without spraying it over Karri, he continued on. "What in the hell makes you think we are reconning Kikuyu for women, of all things?"  
  
"That is all he ever thinks about, BJ." Karri interjected before slurping the noodles.  
  
"Aff, women and that Alf thing. But why women in particular?" BJ replied, attempting to spear a coagulated meatball.  
  
"Think about it. What else could we be after on such an abandoned planet? Factories?"  
  
"Neg," Karri mumbled, reaching over to spear BJ's meatball.  
  
"Mechs?"  
  
"I doubt there are any garrisoned on the planet," BJ muttered, attempting to stab Karri's hand with his fork instead.  
  
"Then what else is LEFT but women?"  
  
"Better food?" Karri swatted at BJ's fork with his own and the meatball flew off, smacking into Fire's chest with a dull squish.  
  
"Now that I could go for." 


	5. Kelida

  
  
**Part Five~ Kelida**  
  


The days passed by incredibly slowly for Kelida, cooped up as she was within her quarters. She spent them weaning herself off of her medication - she hated the hazy feeling she got when taking even the slightest painkillers - and thinking of things she could do to pass the time. The visions simply were not coming again.  
  
She scouted the town out during the day when the temperatures rose, bundled up in her parka with her ever-trusty firearm concealed underneath. There was very little to it, other than a few stores, private residences, a tiny mechbay, and the building she resided in. All in all, things were boring.  
  
Then the next morning she woke up to an alarm.  
  
Screams filled the halls as the siren went off. Acting on instinct, Kelida was out of bed and fully suited up before she even regained full consciousness - tank top, shorts, coolant vest, firearm, combat boots, and parka over it all.   
  
Popping the door open, she was caught up in an onrush of civilians that inhabited the quarters around hers.  
  
"What is it? What is happening?" she shouted even as she was pulled along with the crowd, which was heading towards the entrance of one of the underground tunnels that led under the town.  
  
"Jade Falcons! On Kikuyu!" one of the women shrieked, jumping down the shaft.  
  
_Jade Falcons? Here? I know they are occupied with fighting Lyrans, yes, but why the hell would they land on Kikuyu? It's a planet of no resources, which everyone knows - is there something I don't know about this place? Could this be what I saw? Either way, there's no way in hell that I am going to be caught like a rat in a hole if they take this world._  
  
Determined, Kelida began to forcibly shove her way back through the crowd, heading towards the north side of the complex. The onslaught of civilians died down drastically once she passed the halfway point, and from there she took off running down the halls.  
  
"Wait!" she called out to the first person she spotted wearing a coolant vest, who was likewise pelting towards the door that led to the mechbay.  
  
Without a pause, the man called back over his shoulder. "Not this tunnel, lady. Turn around and you'll find the way to safety."  
  
_Of course. He thinks I'm looking for an escape route, some place safe in the line of fire. _"I am going to the mechbay with you. Are there any spare rides?"  
  
At that, the soldier almost missed a step. He slowed down long enough for Kelida to catch up and run in stride, giving her a once over. "That depends on what you know how to pilot. There's a tank or two, but you'd just be in the way there."  
  
"Give me a mech."  
  
"You're shitting me."  
  
The doors to the mechbay were propped open, and it was quite obvious the place was thrown into chaos. Technicians punched various things into their consoles as several mechwarriors scrambled around, busily ridding themselves of all but the minimum clothing. Kelida and the stray man she'd followed skidded to a halt directly inside the doors. Impatiently, she unzipped the front of her parka and stepped out of it, dragging a hand through her hair.   
  
"I will take what is left over."  
  
Kikuyu's mech force was tiny. Parked throughout the bay were a few Inner Sphere chassis, all medium or small weight class. Kelida recognized a few _Bushwackers_, _Ravens_, an _Uziel_ ,and a _Flea_. Compared to the amount of coolant vest-clad mechwarriors, there were too many mechs covered in dust. She was certain there would be at least one left over.  
  
Her presence quickly drew the attention of an uniformed officer. "Private! Remove that woman instantly! We have CJF contacts, ETA one hour, and we need to get our asses out there to engage them as far away from the town as possible! You don't have enough time to bitch at your husband, lady. Get out of here!"  
  
"She's not my wife, sir! Claims to be a mechwarrior!" the private managed to sputter.  
  
"A mechwarrior? Identify yourself, woman!" the commander barked out, fixing his steely gaze on her.  
  
Kelida drew herself up in her most haughty pose, ignoring the sharp bolt of pain that lanced down her half-healed left arm as she did so. "Kelida. Mechwarrior on leave. This is neither the time nor the place to explain the rest. Do you have an extra mech or not?"  
  
The man regarded her coolly for a moment before nodding sharply. "Private! Get in your mech and quit gawking at the lady! Well, ma'am, you're in luck. Take that _Raven _over there. Get her powered up and ready."  
  
A grin split Kelida's face before she could smother her emotions, and after flipping a salute in the commander's direction, she scampered off towards the _Raven_. Standing at about only six and a half meters tall, the _Raven_ reminded her somewhat of a _Kit Fox_ - small, fast, and compact.   
  
Kelida climbed up into the cockpit without hesitation and immediately began to strap herself into the mech. Adhesive pads located inside the command couch were applied to her bare skin, and she threaded the wires from her neurohelmet into them without even having to think about what she was doing. At last she pulled her hair back and sat the helmet itself into place. It took a few seconds to adjust it properly so it would connect with bare skin - her hair had grown longer already -- but soon enough she was situated.  
  
As soon as she was plugged in, Kelida began to power up the mech. Her voiceprint did not match any on file, but the techs overrode all of the security steps and before long the _Raven's _technical data began to scroll up on screen.  
  
Built for scouting and harassing, the tiny mech could reach speeds of 125 kph and carried full ferro fibrous armor. It did not have any electronic counter measures, which Kelida thought was strange - that was typically the first thing built into most _Ravens_, at least in the ones she'd fought on simulator. The mech did, however, have AMS - an Anti-Missile System that would most likely come in handy. Kelida hated missiles more than anything else, even light gauss.  
  
Three medium x-pulse lasers made up the _Raven's_ weapons system. Ever since she'd read technical reports on the weaponry, Kelida had been itching to raid an Inner Sphere unit just to get her grubby little hands on some x-pulses. Noting the recycle time, she immediately punched in the command for the trio of lasers to chain fire. That would be more useful to her than one solid shot.  
  
_Well, she is not the best or the prettiest mech, but I thank the stars that she was at least available for me to pilot. The Jade Falcons undoubtedly expect to find these backwater Lyran mechwarriors an easy prey. I only wish I could see the look on their faces when they meet another warrior of the clans._  
  
A soft crackle over the radio announced the commander's presence on comms. "Form up with your wing mates and move out. Lady, you're with me. Maybe I can keep you alive long enough to regret ever volunteering for a mission like this, whoever the hell you are."  
  
"Aff-affirmative. I'm on your six," Kelida responded without thinking and had to quickly change her words. It was almost painful to revert back to the commoner speech she'd used before she became a Nova Cat bondsman, but she knew that it would not be the best time to reveal to the Lyrans she was about to fight with that she, too, was a clanner.  
  
It took her a few moments to adjust to the _Raven's_ bobbing step, but soon enough the mech was moving smoothly beneath her control. The light mech practically glided across the ice as she followed the commander's _Bushwacker_ out of the mechbay.  
  
"Will, take point. I want your _Flea _at max, but keep us on your radar at all times. Sweeping motions, yell if you see anything."   
  
A _Flea_, the smallest mech Kelida had ever seen, broke away from the pack as they left the city. She admired the pilot's control as it quickly picked up speed, flying by her own swift _Raven_ at breakneck speeds across the ice. There was certainly a lot to be said for duty on Kikuyu, after all - one did learn the fine art of balance quickly.  
  
The _Flea_ disappeared in the distance within minutes, and Kelida relaxed back against the command couch, auto-pilot kicking in. She made minute adjustments to the _Raven's_ pace when necessary, simply following the commander as they made their way through the ice-covered hills.  
  
They hit abruptly and without warning. One instant, Kelida was idly staring at the _Bushwacker's _butt. The next, the visions had overtaken her once more. 


End file.
